Systems and methods for a dating platform

The present disclosure relates to social networking platforms. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing and using a location-based dating platform.

Online social platforms have been around since the beginning of the modern internet. These consist of any electronic means for two or more people to engage in any interaction virtually using a computer or device connected to the internet. Dating platforms, also referred to as apps, have evolved this concept further to facilitate the basic human desire for connection and relationships. Dating platforms provide a digital meeting ground to help people meet, or “match”, before they meet in real life. However, modern dating platforms miss the key to human interaction, which is human interaction.

The nature of online interactions exist without bounds to the physical world. Anyone can interact with anyone over a digital platform, and not know if they are sitting next to one another or on the other side of the world from one another. This provides a very good level of physical safety that moderately protects someone of any sort of crime that would require the offending individual to be at the same physical location of their victim. As digital platforms are evolving, more personally identifiable information (PII) is being transferred over the platforms that can be used or exploited by an offending party. Unfortunately, PII can be exploited or used to commit a crime toward a specific individual. For example, one such piece of information is the physical location of users on a platform. Such location data can be useful to the platform and users thereof; however, it removes the natural layer of protection during most online interactions.

This invention is designed to facilitate additional safety and privacy while using location data of users on the platform. This invention allows users to view potential matches on an interactive map without disclosing the real time location of users and whilst maintaining the privacy of users as they travel about the real world. The users can also view user generated content in feeds displayed on the map, wherein such feeds are associated with a particular location at which others users are presently located.

According to an embodiment, a system includes one or more memories storing computer executable instructions and one or more processors that, when executing the computer executable instructions, are configured to receive one or more dating preferences associated with a first user. The one or more processors are further configured to receive location data of a first user device associated with the first user, receive one or more dating preferences associated with a second user, receive location data of a second user device associated with the second user, receive an online status request from the second user, generate and display an interactive map on the first user device, determine whether the first and the second users match based upon their dating preferences and their location data, and responsive to determining that the first and second users match and that the second user is online, generate and display on the interactive map a match icon indicative of the second user whilst maintaining the privacy of the second user.

According to another embodiment, a method includes receiving one or more dating preferences associated with a first user, receiving location data of a first user device associated with the first user, and receiving one or more dating preferences associated with a second user. The method further includes receiving location data of a second user device associated with the second user, receiving an online status request from the second user, generating and displaying an interactive map on the first user device, determining whether the first and the second users match based upon their dating preferences and their location data, and responsive to determining that the first and second users match and that the second user is online, generating and displaying on the interactive map a match icon indicative of the second user whilst maintaining the privacy of the second user.

According to another embodiment, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method. The method includes receiving one or more dating preferences associated with a first user, receiving location data of a first user device associated with the first user, receiving one or more dating preferences associated with a second user, receiving location data of a second user device associated with the second user, and receiving an online status request from the second user. The method further includes generating and displaying an interactive map on the first user device, determining whether the first and the second users match based upon their dating preferences and their location data, and responsive to determining that the first and second users match and that the second user is online, generating and displaying on the interactive map a match icon indicative of the second user whilst maintaining the privacy of the second user.

100 100 The systemof the invention facilitates more human interaction in dating, or in general connecting people in the real world, by connecting users based on their desired preferences, their location, and places of interests, such as restaurants, parks, businesses, or other gathering places. Furthermore, the systemprotects the privacy of the users and maintains the anonymity of the real time location of the users, therefore keeping the user unidentifiable to potential offenders nearby or in other parts of the physical world.

100 102 100 104 106 200 104 100 108 106 100 1 FIG. 1 FIG. The systemprovides a matching service, an interactive map, a suggested dialogue subsystem which calculates and offers topics of commonality, and a notification communication subsystem. The systemgenerally comprises a network, user devices, and a serverconnected to the devices via the network. The systemmay comprise a dating applicationwhich is downloadable onto the one or more user devices, as shown in phantom in. It is conceivable that in other embodiments, the systemmay include different or additional elements from what is illustrated in.

104 The networkcan be any type of communications network, such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), a public network such as the internet, and/or some combination thereof. In general, communication between the various devices and systems may occur via any desired network interface using any type of wireless connection, using a variety of communication protocols (for example UDP, TCP/IP, HTTP, S1v1TP, FTP), encodings or formats (for example HTML, JSON, XML), or protection schemes (for example VPN, secure HTTP, SSL).

106 200 104 106 200 106 102 200 106 106 Each user devicemay include input/output devices, e.g., a display screen, lights, and speakers, a local data storage, one or more sensors, one or more applications, one or more application programming interfaces (APIs), and/or a notification module for communicating with the servervia the network. Each user devicemay further include the application of the server. Each user devicecan display the interactive mapgenerated by the server. The devicesmay also include other components known to those skilled in the art. Therein, the devicesmay include any desired hardware and/or software for generating user data.

106 106 106 106 106 106 106 106 104 106 106 106 106 The user devicesmay or may not be identical to one another. Each user may have one or more devicesthat may be stationary, portable, and/or wearable. The devicescan be in the form of smart devices. The devicesmay be in the form of a computer, a smartphone, a tablet, a navigation system, a handheld GPS system, user equipment (UE), a portable gaming device, a media user head-mounted display (HMD), a virtual, augmented, and/or mixed reality device, such as a headset or glasses, smart glasses, smart clothes, smart shoes, data gathering implants, and/or or other suitable data gathering electronic devices. The user devicesmay or may not be identical to one another. By way of example only, one user may have a smartphoneand a wearable device, such as a smartwatch, that is connected to the smartphoneand/or the network. It should be appreciated that the user may only have a smartphone, have both smartphoneand wearable device(s), or just a wearable device(s)only.

106 106 The one or more sensors, integrated within the device, may include a location sensor, in the form of a timekeeping device, a positioning device, a speed sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an altimeter, a pedometer, a heart rate sensor, and/or a camera. For instance, the positioning device may monitor the position of the smartphone and/or wearable device. The one or more sensors may include other and/or additional sensors as appreciated by the skilled artisan.

106 200 The positioning device can be any device or circuitry. For example, the positioning device may comprise a GPS system, a Galileo positioning system, a Global Navigation satellite system (GLONASS), a BeiDou Satellite Navigation, or a Positioning system. As the user moves around with the devicein the physical world, the positioning device can track the position of the user and provide user location data to the server.

108 108 108 108 The applicationmay monitor and collect user data. The applicationmay comprise part of the device's operating system and/or additional software installed by the user. The applicationmay or may not include a data collection module. The applicationmay or may not retrieve data from other systems and/or applications on a device.

2 FIG. 200 200 202 210 220 200 Referring now to, the serveris configured for intaking and processing data from the devices. The servermay include a network interface, a computer-readable storage media, such as a memory, and a processing unit. In some embodiments, the servermay contain different or additional elements, and the various functions thereof may be distributed among its various elements in a different manner than described herein.

202 200 104 202 The network interfaceestablishes communication between the serverand the network. The network interfacecan include any suitable components for interfacing with one or more networks, including, for example, transmitters, receivers, ports, controllers, antennas, or other suitable components.

210 106 210 210 212 214 212 214 200 200 104 210 The memorystores map data, user data which may be inputted by the user or sensed by the user devices, including user characteristics, dating preferences, privacy preferences, and other data. The memorymay generally include any suitable computer readable media, transitory or non-transitory, for storing instructions. In some embodiments, the memorymay include a map databaseand a user database. The databases,may be part of the same serveror separate from the serverand accordingly be remotely accessed through the network. In some embodiments, the memorymay include a single database which stores all necessary data.

220 222 222 222 220 224 226 228 102 102 230 220 102 The processing unitgenerally includes one or more processorsfor executing computer-readable instructions. One or more of the processorscan be an AI processor. The processing unitmay further include a universal module, a user data processing module, a generation modulefor generating the GUI and the mapdisplayed on the devices, communication platforms, and digital elements, such as various match icons, feed icons, and overlays displayed over the map, etc., and a notification generation module. The processing unitgenerates the interactive map, which allows users to view and interact with one another.

222 220 222 210 200 222 The one or more processorsmay perform the various functions of the processing unitdescribed herein. In one embodiment, the processorsmay comprise an artificial neural network using a machine learning algorithm. The artificial neural network can be trained using a training module which was trained on match criteria, image data, image processing, and location and travel data from previous users. The training module can be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software. The training module may be stored in the memoryor externally and accessed by the server. In one embodiment, the AI processormay automatically calculate user identity markers, preferential markers, past and/or future location data, match identifiers, and proximity overlaps between regional geofences.

224 102 224 226 228 230 224 The universal modulehosts and generates content for the users. The universal module may generate and update the map, establish and facilitate communication between users, and conduct various verification processes to verify the locations of users. The universal modulemay also govern device connectivity and the security thereof. It is noted that the user data processing module, the generation module, and/or the notification generation modulecan be a part of or separate from the universal module.

226 226 226 The user data processing modulemay receive user data associated with various characteristics of the users, dating preferences of the users, and sensed data relating to the locations and speeds of the users. The data processing modulemay determine the matches among users. The data processing modulemay determine whether the user is stationary, walking, or traveling by a mode of transportation, which can subsequently be used to determine and set the online status of the users, as discussed in more detail below.

228 102 228 228 102 The generation moduleis configured to generate the mapand the various icons and overlays thereon, as discussed in more detail below. The generation modulecan also generate feeds of user uploaded content. The generation modulemay also generate various other virtual or digital elements. Such virtual elements can be viewed as part of the map, an AR, and/or a VR experience. The virtual element generated can be an icon, a symbol, an avatar of the user, a profile, a digital object which may or may not be associated with the user's avatar, a group or category icon, or a media display comprised of user generated content and/or content uploaded by other individuals associated with a particular point of interest.

230 230 230 230 102 The notification generation moduleis configured to generate one or more notifications for each user. The notification generation modulemay generate one or more virtual, audio, and/or, visual notifications. The notification generation modulemay generate a notification in real time. The notification generation modulemay generate a notification depending upon user data and/or the user's sensed location or activity. A notification may include a prompt for further action, such as allowing one or more other users to view additional information about them, a prompt to travel to a particular location, a prompt to go online or offline, or a prompt to view matches on the map.

1 7 FIGS.- 210 1 2 Referring collectively to, in operation, when a user joins the system to become a member, various pieces of user information are collected and stored in the memory, including but not limited to the user's email address, first name, photo, e.g., Facebook® photo, and identifier, such as an Apple® identifier. Users can also input user information as desired, such as a user's dating preferences, their gender identity, relationship status, and which gender identities, if any, they are seeking in a potential match. These values are stored in a SQL database table as an integer value where “male” is stored as the number, female is stored as the numberand so on in the “Matchributes” database table. Every value stored in this table has an associated MatchributeTypeID, which determines the classification of what that value represents. A MatchributeTypeID of “1” represents what gender identity the user is looking for in a match. Dating preferences may include information regarding gender identity, age, physical characteristics, personality traits, organizations, clubs, education, hobbies, politics, etc.

200 222 200 200 200 200 The servercan automatically determine personally identifiable information (PII) using machine learning. The user may upload a photo and one or more AI processorsmay determine various characteristics, such as eye color, hair color, biological sex, etc. The servercan automatically determine characteristics from the users' photos, which can be presently visible or hidden from other users. The user may be prompted to upload numerous photos of themselves, their pets, their favorite travel destinations, etc., and the servermay calculate compatibility based upon these photos, regardless of whether the photos are hidden or not. The servermay additionally automatically determine the physical location of the user and/or the physical location of the various photos uploaded by the user. Thus, the servermay automatically identify commonalities in residencies and/or travel locations.

200 200 200 200 The servermay also automatically suggest changes to a user's selected preferences. For example, the servermay suggest a match and/or a change in the user's preferences based upon various characteristics which may or may not be in opposition to the user's identified preferences. For instance, the servermay suggest a change in gender preference, or non-gender preferences, based upon various calculated markers, including potential matches which would otherwise not be communicated to the user but for a limitation on gender identity and/or sexual preference. Additionally, the servermay suggest a match in a differing location, which may be outside of the user's proximity preferences, if other various characteristics are highly agreeable. Thereby, the user may see and/or be offered opportunities to change their preferences based upon calculated commonalities to other users.

4 FIG. 3 FIG. 400 102 402 200 110 102 200 102 102 102 102 404 110 200 406 200 200 106 200 106 408 200 200 102 200 106 106 200 102 410 200 106 200 200 102 412 102 414 416 Referring specifically to, there is shown a flow diagram of a methodfor generating a user's privatized location on the map. At block, once signup is complete, the servergenerates and displays an online overlayon the interactive mapwherein the user can input whether or not they wish to “go online” and accordingly allow the serverto make the user visible to other users within the interactive map(). Such a selection can occur in an initial home page which is displayed before the user can use the mapand view others on the map. Additionally or alternatively, the user can view potential matches on the interactive mapwhilst being in a hidden mode if the user is in a privacy area. At block, a user can select to go online via the online overlayand the servercan receive the online status. At block, the serverinitiates a background service that calls a backend API, which in turn passes the users current location (latitude, longitude and altitude) to the serveras provided by the location sensor of each user device. Therein, the serverreceives the exact location of the user device. This location is logged in a table with the associated users ID, and a timestamp is logged to track the last time the location was updated. At block, the serverwill retrieve any previously determined privacy areas associated with the user. The servercan then identify and update the mapaccordingly. Therein, the servercan generate a privatized location of the user devicebased on the location of the user deviceand the privacy area data. Then, the servercan generate a match icon and accordingly place the icon on the map. At block, the servercan update the location of the user devicebased on a time interval, a master time limit, the location of the user, the privacy area(s), travel status of the user, i.e., whether the user is traveling from one location to another or staying at a particular location, event or business data, and a speed of the user. For example, while the user remains online, the servercan continue to send a location update based on a desired time interval value. The user can input a desired time interval for how often the serverupdates their location on the map(at block). The user can also input a master time limit after which the user's status is turned offline so that they are no longer visible on the map(at block). The user can further input whether or not they wish to have their location hidden at any predetermined privacy area (at block).

200 102 200 102 418 200 200 102 420 200 200 422 200 424 200 102 426 200 102 428 200 400 410 200 106 In some embodiments, the servercan automatically calculate the time interval to query and update user location and/or the master time limit which sets the maximum time limit the user remains visible on the map, based on user location, travel status, travel speed, event or business data, privacy area(s), and/or user input. In some embodiments, an update will only be sent to the serverif the user has moved outside of a 20 meter radius from the previous location update. Location updates can also be bound to the master online timer, or maximum time limit, where once the timer expires, the location updates will stop automatically, and the user will no longer appear as “online” to other users. Their location pin or icon is no longer viewable on the mapof other users. At block, the serverwill determine whether or not the master time limit has been reached. If expired, the serverwill automatically turnoff the online status such that the user is no longer visible on the map. If the master time limit has not been reached, at block, the serverwill determine whether the privacy area is active and if the user is presently within the privacy area. If the user is within an active privacy area, the serverwill automatically turnoff the user online status. If the user is not within an active privacy area, at block, the serverwill determine if the location time interval has passed. If the update interval has not passed, at block, the serverwill wait to update the map. If the update interval has been reached, at block, the serverwill update user location in the database and on the map. At block, the serverwill reset the update location time interval and the methodwill repeat at block, wherein the serverreceives the user location data from the user device.

200 106 200 200 102 200 200 102 102 200 102 200 200 The serverincreases the enjoyment of the dating process without sacrificing user privacy. The user devicemay send its location data to the serverat given intervals; however, the serverwill not update the mapwith the user's real time location. Before the serverupdates a user's location, the serverwill determine whether the user is within the privacy area, is within the master time limit, relatively stationary (e.g., did not move beyond 20 meters from the prior location update) and not in transit to another location, and whether the predetermined update time interval has been reached. Additionally, generating and showing a non-real time user location on the mapaccordingly prevents other users from knowing the exact, real time location of a given user. Furthermore, a user's non-real time location will be automatically hidden from the mapif and when a user starts to travel, e.g., when a user's speed exceeds 3 mph/hr (0.8 km/hr), or upon entering their privacy areas, thus other users cannot see or identify the user in transit or at a private location, e.g., their home or even in transit toward their home. Once the user is stationary again, the serverwill determine the location of the user, wait for the online time interval to pass, recheck the location, determine that the user has not traveled a significant distance away from their previous location in between time intervals, and lift the travel mode allowing the user to be online and accordingly seen by other users on the map. Still further, if serverwas hacked by a wrongdoer, the data stolen would not reveal the exact location of the user or the exact location of the privacy. Therefore, the serveradds additional layers of privacy to dually help safeguard the user and make the dating experience more enjoyable. In other words, in one embodiment, to be visible to other users as potential partners, the user must be out of their privacy area and enjoying a particular activity at a particular place; thus, interjecting more humanity and human interaction in the dating experience without sacrificing the privacy of the users.

5 FIG. 500 102 102 102 502 102 102 200 504 506 106 Referring to, there is shown a flow diagram of a methodfor matching and displaying potential dating partners on the map. While online, users can view a mapof other users who are also online in their same physical location or general region. For example, a user can select to see the mapvia a match map iconand/or the mapmay be automatically generated and displayed upon the user selecting to go online. When the mapis initialized, the users ID and current location are sent to the backend server(at block), which runs a query (at block) to find all matches of those users who are also online and within a specified radius of the current location received from the user deviceof that particular user. This query performs the search to locate anyone who matches with the specific criteria set within the user's preferences, while also ensuring the matched users search preferences are taken into consideration when returning the results. Hence, in one embodiment, all users that match must also currently be online, ensuring their location is within the limits specified by the original location passed in to the query. Users who have blocked other users will accordingly have such matches filtered out and not returned in the results. Every user timestamp record which is associated with their location is verified to have had an update within the last 30 minutes or they are also filtered out of the results as a safety backup.

200 Every user that results from this search query has a match percentage calculated to indicate how well they match with the original user overall, based on the commonalities and preferences both users set forth in their match criteria and physical profile. When two users are evaluated by the backed to determine if they are a “match”, the servercalculates a value for how well user A matches with user B. For example, if user A specifies their political preference is “Liberal” and they are seeking a match that is “Liberal” but user B has specified they are “Conservative”, then these two users would have a 50% political match score. The rest of the match preferences are calculated this way, and a final match percentage is then calculated using a combination of the calculated percentages to define an overall match percentage. All of these percentages are displayed to the respective users who are returned as a match to the original user.

200 200 106 108 508 200 102 510 512 510 510 510 102 200 514 516 102 518 102 200 200 102 510 Once the servergenerates a listing of the matches, the serverwill send matches to the user devicevia the application(at block). Then the serverwill notify the user of and display the matches on the map, with a corresponding match iconwhich may or may not be identical to one another (at block). The match iconsare indicative of the non-real time location of the other users who are out in the real world and outside of their respective privacy areas. Hence, the match iconis indicative of an approximate location of a user, and more particularly a non-real time approximation or non-real time location of a given user. The match iconis configured to ensure that an exact real time location of the user is not displayed on the interactive mapor otherwise provided to other users in order to maintain the privacy of the users. The serverwill also generate one or more matched overlays,for a given match and display the overlay on top of the map(at block). In generating and displaying the match icons on map, the servercan wait for one location update time interval before displaying the match icon of users, upon the users initially going online. Thereby, the serverintroduces a lag time to ensure that the user is not traveling and also ensure that the user's real time location is not displayed on the map. Thus, the match iconof each user can illustrate a non-real time location and a match likelihood between paired users.

514 200 516 516 510 The match overlaycan display the name, the likelihood of the match and why, and the photo of a given matched user. Additionally, the servercan generate and display a hidden match overlay, wherein the name and photo of the matched users are hidden but the likelihood of the match is displayed. The hidden match overlayis unique in that it allows users to travel to find non-real time locations of potential partners, via the icons, without specifically identifying the matches with PII (such as their name, photo, or other physical characteristics). Thereby, the user is guided to a particular location at which a potential match will be present, but the user will not know exactly who the potential match is, which accordingly allows the dating experience to be more natural, more personality driven, and allows relationships to grow more organically.

200 200 510 514 516 200 200 200 200 102 200 200 The servercan also toggle whether or not the user's name and photo(s) may be displayed, based on a master time limit, a user input, an in-platform incentive or token, and/or whether the user is online. For example, the servermay automatically hide or unhide a user's name and/or photos upon the user becoming online. Upon determining that another user has clicked on this particular user's match icon, the user may be prompted to share their name and/or photos. The user may then input a corresponding input command to either share or not share their name and/or photos. If the user allows their information to be shared, then the other user will be shown this user's name and/or photo, for example as shown in the overlay. If the user does not allow their information to be shared, then their name and/or photos will remain hidden, and the other user may be shown the hidden overlay. The servermay allow the additional information to be visible to other users for a set duration of time and/or unless and until the user decides to go offline. The servermay also automatically stop sharing the user's name and/or photo after a master time limit, such as a 24 hr time limit. If the user goes offline, via user input or the serveritself, then the serverwill also stop the sharing of the user's name and/or photos. At any time while the user is online, the user has the option to un-hide their photos to be displayed on their match detail page to any other user who clicks on their respective location pin on their match map. This call to the serverchanges a “HidePhotos” flag from true to false. This in turn allows any other matched user to view the user's photos while this flag is selectively set to false by the user. If the user decides to hide their photo, a backend call is made to set the “HidePhotos” flag back to true. Thereby, the serverincreases the privacy of its users by not allowing others to access more personal information unless and until such information is shared by a given user.

6 FIG. 600 102 602 200 200 102 200 604 102 606 608 604 610 200 612 Referring to, there is shown a flow diagram of a methodfor generating one or more privacy areas to protect the privacy of the user. Initially the user may not have a designated privacy area upon going online on their mapfor the first time (at block). The serverand/or the user can determine and set a privacy area geofence PA, wherein their location will be hidden. More particularly, the serverwill stop updating the mapwith any subsequent location updates, upon determining that the user is traveling and/or upon entering the privacy area geofence PA. For a user to set their own unique privacy area geofence, the servercan prompt the user to place a privacy pinon the mapvia a privacy map button(at block). Alternatively, it is conceivable that the user can input a physical address. The user may place the privacy pinand thereafter manipulate a slider overlayto increase or decrease the size of the privacy area geofence. The serverthereafter will receive and store the privacy area geofence (at block).

102 200 200 200 102 200 102 200 102 200 106 200 A user can set as many privacy areas PA as they want by moving the center location of the mapto the desired location of the privacy area PA, then adjust the size (radius) of the privacy area PA. The created privacy area PA is uploaded to the serverand stored in a database table with the user ID and the location and the radius of the privacy area PA. When the background service is running (user is online), the serverwill make a call to the database on every location update to retrieve all stored privacy areas of the user. The serverthen checks to see if the current location is located within (inside) of any privacy areas PA defined by the user. If this is not the case, the location of the user then proceeds to be updated to the backend so that the mapwill show the user's non-real time location. If the current location of the user is determined to be inside of a privacy area PA, the serverwill stop the subsequent update of the user's location on the map. Furthermore, the serverwill remove the user's last known location which was displayed on the map. The servercan accordingly output a privacy signal to the user deviceto notify the user such that they are aware that they are no longer online. When inside the privacy area geofence PA, the user's home page UI is updated to show that a privacy area PA is active and location updates are off. Thereby, the servermaintains user privacy and helps protect users should they return home or enter a given privacy area PA.

200 102 200 200 200 200 200 The servermay automatically start and/or stop location sharing on the map. The servercan determine a maximum time of sharing location based upon a preset time and/or the user's previous records of time spent at a particular location. Further, the servermay automatically determine a privacy area geofence PA, wherein upon entering the users will be automatically taken offline by the server. Such a privacy area PA can be a function of where the user spends a substantial amount of time, such as a residence, a work place, a local grocery store, café, etc., a preset radius therearound, a variable radius therearound based upon a particular day, a holiday, and/or time of day, a user inputted privacy area or calculated perimeter therearound, and/or location data or privacy areas PA of known friends and/or other users. The servercan also determine privacy areas PA based on certain businesses or areas, the bounds of which can be set by the businesses' known perimeters and/or wireless access points WAPs thereof. For example, the servercan identify grocery stores, department stores, government buildings, airports, etc., which may serve as de facto privacy areas.

7 10 FIGS.- 200 102 200 Referring now to, the servercan further generate and display feeds of user uploaded content on the map. The feeds, which can be image data, such as photos or videos, of users at given locations, allow users to interact with one another, based on a place in the real world, such as a park, gathering place where users are doing a given activity, a restaurant, a bar, etc., whether or not the users have presently matched with one another. Hence, the serverfacilitates the grouping and interaction of users based on a particular location, so long as the users uploading content to the feed are within a feed area geofence FA. In other words, the ability to start and upload content to a given feed can be contingent upon being within the bounds of the feed area geofence FA. In one embodiment, the displaying of feeds may be contingent on users first being matched. In another embodiment, the feeds can be seen by users whether or not they have matched with the user uploading the user content in the feed.

200 704 702 102 706 704 102 704 200 702 102 702 102 702 706 106 200 210 702 102 708 102 The server, the users, and/or business owners can set a feed location or feed area FA and proximity thereof upon selecting a create new feed icon, positioning a feed pin or feed iconon the map, and adjusting a size of the feed area geofence FA via a feed slider overlay. More particularly, a user may create a new feed by clicking on the new feed iconoverlayed onto the map. After clicking on the new feed icon, the serverwill display a feed iconand initial proximity area therearound on the map, and the user may specifically place the feed iconby dragging the mapto a desired location relative to the stationary feed icon. Alternatively, it is conceivable that a user can input an address of a desired feed location. Thereafter, the user can adjust the size of the feed area geofence FA by sliding left or right on the slider overlay. The existing feeds can also be seen on the UI wherein users can add additional feeds. Once a desired location and size is selected, the user may input a corresponding command to finish adding the feed, and then the user devicewill send the corresponding feed data to the serverfor storage in the memory. Users may then click on the feed iconand add and/or view user content as desired in a feed display. In one embodiment, the feed display is a separate GUI from the map. In another embodiment, the feed display is a feed overlayon top of the map.

200 200 102 102 200 106 In one embodiment, the when the user presses the create feed icon, the serverconducts an API call to a remote map database, such as Google® places, to retrieve any and all registered businesses within the map area which the user is presently viewing. The servermay display a possible feed location overlay on the map. The possible feed location overlay is comprised of a listing of possible businesses, which thereby allows the user to select which business or location they wish to add to the map. The user selects from the list in the possible feed location overlay, or if the place is not listed the user can select an option to enter a custom name which is keyed to their chosen location. If a feed is already registered at the selected business, the servernotifies and prompts the user deviceto post within the existing feed, and accordingly the user may join and post within the existing feed, but a new separate feed may not be created.

200 102 200 106 200 The servercan display existing feeds on the map. Users can select which feeds they wish to follow. Users may see the feeds of user content uploaded by users that are presently at that given location within the corresponding feed area geofence FA. Any user may view a given feed; however, only users that are at the location of the corresponding feed area can upload user content to the feed. Before creating and/or adding content to a feed, the servercan check whether or not the location of the user devicerequesting to add a feed and/or upload to the feed is indeed within the feed area geofence FA. The servercan automatically prompt a user to create a feed and/or post within an existing feed, upon detecting that the user has entered a particular feed location geofence.

200 The servercan automatically refresh feeds based on a given time limit and/or based on the online/offline status of the user or users who uploaded the user content to the feed. Thereby, feeds can be relevant in both time and be an accurate depiction of who is presently at the feed location.

9 FIG. 900 200 200 902 200 904 200 106 200 102 200 906 106 200 200 908 200 910 200 200 200 912 200 200 102 106 914 200 916 200 200 102 200 200 Referring now to, there is shown a flowchart of a methodfor connecting people using the server, based on their preferences, interests, and non-real time location. Initially the servercan sign up users and receive the dating preferences of the users, along with other information users with to disclose about themselves (at block). Optionally, users can set user defined regional geofences which will be used to exclude potential matches outside of the regional geofences. Such regional geofences can be indicative of city, state, or country regions or the users can determine their own regional geofences based on a given proximity from their location. If inputted by the users, the serverwill receive and store the user defined regional geofences (at block). Thus, the servermay only determine whether the users match if the user devicesof the users are within a given geofence or overlapping geofences. The servercan generate and display a status overlay displayed at the top of the map, which allows the users to toggle their online status between online or offline. Accordingly, the serverwill receive an online status request based upon the user inputted command via the status overlay (at block). Location data from the user deviceswill be sent to the serverat given intervals, and the serverwill receive the location data (at block). The servermay then determine the location of the users based on the location data (at block). Therein, the servercan verify that the users are within a particular region and are not within a privacy area, such as their home, grocery store, or other location, which may have been inputted by the user or automatically determined by the server. The servercan determine the online status of the users and accordingly accept or reject the user's online status request based on user location data and any privacy area geofences (at block). Therein, if a given user is determined to be within a privacy area, the servermay hide their location if and when the user attempts to go online. The servercan generate and display the mapon the user devices(at block). The servercan determine the user has any potential mates based on the dating preferences of the available users (at block). The servermay initially determine the location of the users and verify that the users are within the same or overlapping geofences. In one embodiment, the servermay only determine potential matches between users that are online and accordingly potentially visible on the map. In one embodiment, the serverdetermines potential matches between users that are online and users that are within privacy area geofences, except that the serverwill accordingly hide the location of the users who are presently within their respective privacy area geofences PA.

200 102 918 200 102 200 102 920 200 102 200 106 Responsive to determining that one or more users match and that the matched user is online, the servercan generate and display on the interactive mapone or more match pins or icons indicative of the matched users whilst maintaining their privacy (at block). The servercan also generate and display feed pins or icons on the map. Hence, the servercan populate the mapwith the feed locations, of other users which may or may not have matched with a given user (at block). In one embodiment, the serveronly populates the mapwith feeds of businesses or other locations from users that specifically matched with the user. Optionally, the servermay output a match signal or a feed signal to the user devicesto notify the users of potential matches.

102 200 200 102 922 200 924 200 200 To keep the maprelevant and accurate, the servercan periodically update the match icons and feed icons. The servercan determine a unique location update time interval at which a location of the match icon of a user will be updated on the mapand accordingly update the match icon based on location data, the location update time interval, privacy area data, and the online status the user (at block). The servercan automatically cease updating and remove the match icon and/or feed icon associated with a given user (at block). For example, the servercan cease updating the location of a user upon determining that the user is traveling at a preset maximum speed or has remained stationary beyond a maximum online time limit. Additionally, for example, the servercan remove any feed icons, or feeds therein, upon determining that a particular user who uploaded user content in the feed has left the feed location or after a maximum online time limit associated with the user.

102 200 926 200 928 200 200 200 200 102 106 200 If a user sees a potential match on the mapand selects the corresponding match icon, then the servercan prompt the corresponding matched user to disclose additional information (at block). The servercan generate and display a corresponding match overlay (at block). Therein, the servermay first notify the selected user that another user has selected their match icon. The servercan prompt the second user to share their name and/or photo, or other additional information. The servercan receive a corresponding input command from the selected user to either share or not share the additional information. Based on the received input command from the selected user, the servercan generate and display on the interactive mapon the user deviceof the other user either: an additional information overlay which displays the name and/or photo of the second user, or a hidden overlay which hides the name and/or photo of the second user. Thereafter, the servermay repeat any of the foregoing steps in any sequence as desired.

10 FIG. 1000 200 200 1002 200 1004 200 1006 106 200 200 210 1008 200 102 106 1010 200 200 222 Referring now to, there is shown a flowchart of a methodfor generating one or more privacy areas PA. The servercan determine one or more privacy area geofences PA based on user input, sensed user location data, and/or business or location data retrieved from a third party server(at block). In one embodiment, for example, the servercan initially prompt each user to input a center point of the privacy area geofence PA (at block). The servercan then prompt each user to input a size of the privacy area geofence PA (at block). Each user devicecan then send the size and location of the privacy area geofence PA to the server, and accordingly the serverwill receive this privacy area data and store such in the memory(at block). For each user that has inputted a privacy area geofence PA, the servercan display the privacy area geofence PA on the mapof that particular user's device(at bock). The privacy area overlay can include an overlay of a perimeter and/or an icon. Thereafter, the serverwill use the privacy data in association with determining the users' online statuses and match icons. For example, after determining the privacy area geofences, the servercan determine whether each user is located within their respective privacy area geofence, and automatically switch the online status to an offline status upon each user entering their respective privacy area geofence as determined by the one or more processors.

1002 200 200 200 200 200 106 In another embodiment, when determining the one or more privacy areas PA, at block, the servercan automatically calculate, generate, and display privacy area geofences PA. Therein, the servercan automatically determine one or more privacy area geofences for each user based upon user input, location data of each user, residency data indicative of a home address of each user, and location or business data indicative of a place of work, a gym, a grocery store, a park, and/or a government building associated with each user. In some embodiments, after generating a privacy area geofence PA, the servercan prompt users to confirm the generated privacy area. The servercan notify users upon entering their privacy area, and may also notify users upon switching their status to an offline status. The servercan also prompt a user to go online up determining that the user deviceof the user has exited the user's privacy area geofence PA.

11 FIG. 1100 200 200 200 200 1102 200 200 200 200 Referring now to, there is shown a flowchart of a methodfor connecting people through feeds associated with a particular location. The servercan generate a feed of user uploaded content which allows other users to view potential partners as they experience the real world. The servercan generate the feed based on user input, sensed user location data, and/or business or location data retrieved from a third party server. For example, the servercan determine a feed area geofence FA (at block). In one embodiment, the servercan automatically determine the feed area geofence FA by sensing location data of the user and then matching location or business data from a third party serverwith the location of the user, and thereafter determine the location, size, and shape of the feed area geofence FA based on the determined business. The servercan then prompt the user who is presently at this location to verify that the information determined by the serveris indeed correct.

200 200 1104 200 1106 200 106 1108 200 1110 200 102 1112 702 102 In one embodiment, the serverrequires user input to determine the feed location. For example, the servercan prompt each user to input a center point of a feed area geofence FA associated with the physical location at which the user is located (at block). The servercan then prompt each user to input a size of the feed area geofence FA (at block). The servercan then receive the inputted feed area data, including the inputted center point and size of the feed area geofence FA, from the user devices(at bock). The servercan also determine a business, or other organization, that is associated with the feed area geofence (at block). The servercan generate and display a feed area overlay on the interactive map, which can indicate the location and size of the feed area associated with a particular location, such as a restaurant (at block). The feed area overlay can include an overlay of a perimeter and/or an icon, such as the feed iconand displayed feed area FA on the map. The feed icon may indicate a physical location at which a given user is located.

200 1114 200 1116 200 1118 200 106 200 1120 200 106 1122 200 1124 200 The servercan also generate a feed of user content uploaded by the users whilst they are located at the physical location, e.g., within the feed area geofence FA (at block). Therein, the servercan prompt users to upload user content (at block). The servercan determine whether the user wishing to upload user content is within the feed area geofence (at block). Thereby, the servercan determine whether the user deviceof a particular user is located within the feed area geofence FA before displaying the user content uploaded by the user such that the feed only contains the user content uploaded by users whilst they are located at the given business or other point of interest belonging to another organization or governmental body. The servercan then receive and store the user uploaded content, and add the user content to the feed (at block). For example, the user can upload image data, e.g., photos, videos, and/or text, pertaining to the location and/or the user(s) at the location. The feed can be in the form of any desired feed, such as a scroll of image data. Upon selection of the feed icon by a user, the servercan display the feed on the user deviceof the user (at block). The servercan remove any irrelevant user content from the feed (at block). For example, the servercan remove user content upon determining that a given user has left the physical location, e.g., exited the feed area geofence FA, is determined to be offline, and/or the content has been uploaded beyond a maximum time limit. Thereby, the feed may include only user content that is tethered to users who are presently at the location associated with the feed area geofence FA.

The steps of the methods described herein can be performed in any desired order. Other embodiments, which differ from the aforementioned embodiments, may be recognized by those skilled in the art without departing from the disclosure.